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Community to honor voice of Stevens Point-area sports

A celebration will be held May 18 in the Atrium Room at SentryWorld from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to honor the voice of Stevens Point sports Scott Krueger for his 40 years of broadcasting.(Photo: Scott A. Williams/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo

Editor's note: This story has been updated with information about Scott Krueger's show on WPCN 92.1 FM.

STEVENS POINT - At the age of nine, Scott Krueger would put on his pajamas, climb into bed and bury himself under the covers in the family home in Fond du Lac.

Hidden under his pillow was a transistor radio, a single white chord with an earpiece was firmly planted in his ear. On the other end of the broadcast was Eddie Doucette, the longtime voice of the Milwaukee Bucks in the early years of the franchise.

He was sold. All Krueger ever wanted to do was enjoy a career in radio broadcasting. More specifically, doing sports play-by-play.

"I knew from either the fifth or sixth grade that is what I wanted to do," Krueger said. "(Eddie Doucette) was my favorite (broadcaster). I thought he made the games so colorful, with nicknames (for Bucks players) like the 'Cement Mixer' and 'Greyhound.'

"I thought he was cool. I wanted to be somewhat like that."

Krueger is synonymous with the Stevens Point-area sports scene. He has served as the voice of Stevens Point prep and college sports since landing the job of sports director at WSPT 97.9 FM/1010 AM in 1977.

A celebration is being held to honor Krueger and his phenomenal 40 years of broadcasting in central Wisconsin on May 18 in the Atrium Room at SentryWorld. The event is free and open to the public from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. with free hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar.

It'll be an opportunity for players, coaches and parents who have listened to Krueger over the years to show their appreciation for his vast contribution to the sports scene in the Stevens Point community.

"In my mind, what Harry Caray meant to the Cubs, Ray Scott to the Vince Lombardi-era Packers and Vin Scully to the Dodgers is a fair measurement of what Scott Krueger has meant to central Wisconsin collegiate and high school athletics the past four decades," former University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men's basketball coach Jack Bennett said.

A long career

There have been a lot of changes since Krueger called his first game at the station — a Pacelli boys basketball game at Wild Rose in November of 1977.

Sentry Insurance owned the station when he arrived. Rick Muzzy purchased the station in 1985. News director Gary Wescott, who hired Krueger, went on to become the mayor of Stevens Point from 1995 to 2007. He also served as interim mayor for a span in 2014.

Then there are the dozens of sidekicks who have sat in the seats next to Krueger to provide analysis and commentary throughout the years.He estimates that more than 30 individuals have joined him on air over his career, including Stevens Point Journal Media reporter Scott Williams, who participates in a 15-minute sports segment every Friday morning on WPCN 92.1 FM.

John Zellmer has occupied one of those seats for more than 20 years, primarily as the color man on UWSP men's and women's basketball.

"The best thing he ever told me is that we're the eyes and ears of the people at home listening," said Zellmer, who estimates he and Krueger have traveled more than 30,000 miles together going to games. "If they were here, what would they be seeing and thinking?

"Scotty's such a fabric of Stevens Point. It's like people are listening to their best friend. He is very humble and unassuming. Scotty's so genuine and like the common guy, and he comes across (the broadcasts) that way."

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Scott Krueger has entertained Stevens Point area sports fans as the voice of high school and college sports over the past 40 years with his broadcasts for WSPT and later WPCN.(Photo: Scott A. Williams/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Staying close to home

Throughout his long career, Krueger said he never felt a need to move to a larger market. He applied for one job opening early in his radio career in Appleton, and turned the job down when he was offered. Krueger never longed to be the Brewers or Packers announcer, he said.

Once WSPT acquired the rights to Pointers games early in his tenure at the station and college games dotted his schedule, Krueger said he was content.

"I never thought I'm going to the NFL or I'm going to the NBA. I seriously never thought that," Krueger said. "Once we got the college games, I was just happy. Some will say, 'He's not driven.' I have a problem with that.

"Is money what everybody considers success, then I'm not successful. But I don't look at it like that. If you're happy and good at what you do, doesn't that make you a success? That is a success to me. Success, in my opinion, should be in the eyes of the person you're talking about."

In his four decades behind the mic in central Wisconsin, Krueger has witnessed more than his share of memorable moments. State championships in the prep ranks are too numerous to mention. SPASH, and Pacelli have piled up the trophies during his tenure. And don't forget Amherst and a number of other local schools that have hardware to show for their efforts over the years.

And the collection of high-caliber athletes he has watched perform is hard for him to fathom, he said. Suzy Favor, Joe Pavelski, Janel McCarville, Ryan Ramczyk and Chris Solinsky are just a handful that came to mind.

When pushed to pick one moment that sticks out above all, however, Krueger points to a March night in 2004 in Salem, Virginia. Jason Kalson hit a game-winning jumper with time running out to give the Pointers the school's first NCAA Division III men's national basketball title.

"I just kept screaming, 'He hit it! He hit it! He hit it!'" he said.

Krueger's broadcast and call of that game for many UWSP fans unable to make the trip to Salem, helped make the moment even more special.

"I still get chills listening to John Zellmer and Scotty's emotional reporting of the last 19 seconds of our first NCAA title in 2004," Bennett said.

For one night at least, Krueger will step out from behind the mic and be recognized for the passion and loyalty he has exhibited to Stevens Point area sports fans for four decades.

From his perspective, he's simply doing what he always wanted to do ever since listening to Eddie Doucette as a 9-year-old boy.

“So the long and short of it is I’ve had an amazing amount of fun," Krueger said. "I've put on a lot of miles. I've been to a lot of places I probably would never have gotten thanks to our teams. I've met a whole bunch of wonderful people from the players to the coaches to the families. It’s been a pretty good gig and I hope that it continues for a good while yet."

Scott A. Williams can be reached at 715-345-2282, or by email at ssswilliam@stevenspoint.gannett.com. Find him on Twitter as @SPJScottWill